This is Germany - solar supply of 47GW at 2pm on that Tuesday, of grid load of 57GW. Solar was still supplying 18.8GW at 5pm. Can you imagine the situation 20 years ago when that solar contribution would have been negligible?
The progressive case for ground-mounted solar and grid-scale batteries: everyone benefits from the grid not fucking collapsing when it gets hot, not just those who can afford private solar and battery systems.
To be clear I think you should get air conditioning if at all possible. There's plenty of power for it, we're going to keep building solar around the world, and otherwise you might die.
@solar_chase
though mounting it 2.5 meters above groundsurface would allow for at least double use of the space ...
@solar_chase You can farm under ground-mounted solar, creating a win-win situation.
@solar_chase You can farm under ground-mounted solar, creating a win-win situation.
Jun 29, 2026, 2:17 PM@solar_chase @pozorvlak Interesting blog article by Denis Stetskov yesterday that argues that the heat deaths of thousands of Europeans is actually an esthetic choice: air conditioners are forbidden in many places because other people don't like the way they look.
I do not know if this is true or to what extent.
https://techtrenches.dev/p/europe-runs-at-catastrophic-yield
@mjd @solar_chase sounds depressingly plausible to me.
@mjd @solar_chase @pozorvlak I know the UK has an intersecting set of incomprehensible rules, that get even worse once dual function heating/cooling systems enter the equation :(
@srtcd424 @mjd @solar_chase @pozorvlak Just started looking up UK AC rules, and I'm not even sure where we stand on planning permission.
@srtcd424 @mjd @solar_chase @pozorvlak
The UK requirement for planning permission if your heat pump also cools was removed last year, IIRC.
I know of people looking to have mini split air conditioners installed and the installers they've spoken to are booked solid until September.
@mjd @solar_chase @pozorvlak NIMBY is strong everywhere. Who cares if a neighbour kicks the bucket as long as OH SO PRETTY.
@mjd @solar_chase @pozorvlak Interestingly, Paris and other cities like it have extensive architectural preservation rules that create a dilemma:
Air-source heat pumps externalize equipment onto the parts of buildings those towns regulate most heavily: façades, roofs, courtyards, views, and shared spaces. Paris especially has intimate shared courtyards and planning permission depends partly on not obstructing neighbors' views.
A dilemma created by the desire to keep things beautiful.
I read recently (can’t remember where) about creating a refuge space. Even if you can’t afford to cool the whole property, create one cool space you can manage. We can’t afford to cool the whole home (and fully fitted system is 4
Thousand plus and has huge logistical issues due to location / building type etc etc but I suppose a portable unit would work if fitted correctly in one space
@tempusfelix @solar_chase we sacrificed the bathroom to serve as a heat trap. Isolated it well and used a portable unit to move heat from the target room into it. Sounds wacky, worked surprisingly well.
Interesting technique. I like the idea of a heat sink room. How did you use the bathroom for its standard purpose?
@tempusfelix we have a separate toilet, which simplifies things a bit. Otherwise, it was possible to squeeze in for a quick shower.
Jun 30, 2026, 3:06 PMThis seems logical to me. Most bathrooms have an exhaust fan, so it makes sense to use it as the heat sink with that fan running.
Jun 30, 2026, 12:36 PM@solar_chase I have to admit, one of the nice things about ACs if you do get them - is that they are most useful at the times when the grid is being inundated by excess solar energy.
@solar_chase yes. And I also look forward to a world where communities are building their own microgrids, generating power close to the loads. For now, hats off to the folks who enable their home batteries and rooftop solar to dispatch power to the grid when everyone needs it.
@solar_chase Electric vehicles also contribute battery systems as everyone knows. But I don't think many people know that charging stations along the motorway typically also has solar panels and batteries. Double up on net stability from EVs.
@drgroftehauge @solar_chase The newest big charging installations are basically virtual power plants that happen to have chargers on them. Once you've got a honking great battery and a high capacity grid connection you use it to the full!
@solar_chase OTOH those of us who can afford (and are allowed to fit) rooftop solar, should, and we benefit a bit from the reduced solar gain too. The huge potential for commercial rooftops, ground-mount on car parks etc. seems almost totally neglected (here in the UK at least) in favour of cheaper construction on farmland.
I'm hoping to get away with another few years without aircon -- for me, it's comfort, not safety -- with some other improvements to reduce solar gain at home. But the time is coming even in the UK, and coming fast for many people - often precisely the same ones who don't have their own rooftops or much money. But that's likely to mean inefficient single-hose portable units (I'd hunt down a dual hose unit.
But anyway we don't have nearly enough solar in general here.
@solar_chase
Very good, but...
See you during the winter season.
😉
Jun 29, 2026, 12:50 PM@mariosiniscalchi @solar_chase
During Winter, there's less and less need for heaters. And Dams are at their maximum...
The solution is plural sources of clean energy, less consumption, adaptable consumption.
Jun 29, 2026, 1:06 PM@gboussard @mariosiniscalchi @solar_chase with these droughts, Switzerland is not looking good; https://www.energiedashboard.admin.ch/strom/fuellstaende-speicherseen#showDetail
@gboussard @mariosiniscalchi @solar_chase and insulation, lots of insulation.
Jun 29, 2026, 12:55 PM@mariosiniscalchi @solar_chase Where we have heart pumps powered by solar + wind (which in winter is increased)
Jun 29, 2026, 1:09 PM@mariosiniscalchi @solar_chase “checkmate, environmentalists”
@mariosiniscalchi @solar_chase But in winter you can at least run nuclear in addition to the solar you still get (France had to turn off one or more nuclear plants again this summer because it got too hot).
@solar_chase Where are the batteries? I can only find Pumped Storage in the chart.
@solar_chase Solar is great, but this graph is saddening. Look at how much coal they burn.
@solar_chase Yeah, 20 years ago Germany also had that bright red strip that you showed in the previous toot.
I like to imagine that we had not abandoned nuclear power, but coal instead, while at the same time still building all the solar and wind sources.
Then we wouldn't have the funny demand gaps between the solar oversupply times, and the coal bar would be gone for good.
We could have saved so many lives, and saved so much money.
Jun 29, 2026, 2:02 PM@solar_chase Greece today (hot day). Renewable supply 12GW at 1pm, load 8.8GW. 2.2GW exported, and still some to spare.
@solar_chase now we just need to reduce consumption so that we don't need any more panels
#ClimateCrisis #solarpunk
@solar_chase Is that grid sized solar farm measured generation or does it include estimating the reduced demand caused by home installation s?
@etchedpixels it's reported to grid, so utility-scale only, does not include negative load from embedded. I think.
Jun 29, 2026, 3:32 PM@solar_chase
Pfff... Peanuts!
Can't even power the projected AI datacenter build-out on the power-draw of an 85 million people country.
Perhaps this makes ppl realize how totally bonkers the AI datacenter plans are?
Currently they already consume as much as the whole of Japan!
@solar_chase who makes this graph? Can they puuuhleeze flip the legend upside down so it matches the order of the stack of sources in the graph?
@otte_homan it's an internal app. I am wrestling with trying to get a readable version for my clients to do a piece on this for my actual job.
As an aside, these hourly stack charts are a nightmare, kudos to any grid operator who has a tool that works.